THE FRENCH L ANGUAGE Overview 2022 - 2022 Edition

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THE FRENCH L ANGUAGE Overview 2022 - 2022 Edition
THE FRENCH
L ANGUAGE
WORLDWIDE
Overview                                       2022

                                                 2022
                                                Edition

 Gallimard / International Organization of La Francophonie
THE FRENCH L ANGUAGE Overview 2022 - 2022 Edition
TABLE OF CONTENTS                                                                                                                                                                                               PREFACE

    TABLE OF CONTENTS                                                                    PREFACE
                                                                                                                                                        can say “its center is everywhere and its circumference
                                                                                                                                                        nowhere”, paraphrasing the old medieval image.

                                                                                                                                                        Polymorphic and polycentric, La Francophonie is at one
    Preface                                3   PART 2                                                                                                  with the plural of the world. Its credo is that a plural
                                                                                                                                                        world is not only a fact but a value that must give it
    Foreword                           4       Language policies and
                                                                                                                                                        direction. La Francophonie is therefore the continuous
                                                teaching (in) French worldwide                                                                          promotion of linguistic pluralism and its virtues, in the
                                                                                                                                                        world and within it. Among these, first of all, the ability
    PART 1                                                                                                                                              to think from language to language, which is also the
    Presence and uses of French                  French as a language of schooling 20                                                                  ability to decentralize and open up.

    Language Worldwide                           French as a foreign language      21
                                                                                                                                                        This is why this report insists on "the danger of
                                                                                                                                                        unilingualism" in general, within institutions and
                                                                                                                                                        international relations in particular. It is not a question of
     Enumeration and geographic                PART 3                                                                                                  daunting or imposing on oneself a language that would
     distribution of Francophones      6       French language, culture and                                                                            be more "universal" than the others, but then again of
                                                                                         The following report is not so much a description of           understanding that in a multicultural world and idioms,
     A polycentric view of French      10      digital world
                                                                                         the state of the French language as it is a presentation, a    which are as many faces of humanity, it is at the end of
     French language and multilingualism                                                snapshot of the Francophone movement in the world. It          the encounter of languages, of their dialogue which can
                                                                                         opens with this observation: "We are born less and less        be difficult, of their setting in relation which certainly
     in international organizations    13       The place of French on the Web   26
                                                                                         Francophone, but we become more and more so".                  does not go without misunderstandings, that is found
                                                 LFrancophonie cultural content                                                                         the common, the universal that it is necessary to achieve
                                                                                         La Francophonie, as the report says, is future, variations,    together. Which can only be, according the philosopher
                                                online: stakes and challenges of
                                                                                         polycentrism. In a nutshell, it reflects a multifaceted        Maurice Merleau-Ponty, "lateral" or "horizontal" and not
                                                discoverability                   28    aspect of the world.                                           "of overhang".

                                                 Books and French-speaking authors3 1
                                                                                         La Francophonie represents the future, as it draws its         Out of this necessarily multilingual (multi)lateralism, La
                                                                                         energy from the demographics of an African continent           Francophonie is the herald and the manifestation.
                                                                                         that, like La Francophonie, is moving towards its
                                                                                         youth. The French language is therefore more than
                                                                                         ever the language of Africa, of its schools, of its literary
                                                                                         production, of its research, of its thoughts. It also knows
                                                                                         how to become the lingua franca of its streets, of its
                                                                                         markets, of its ever more rapidly growing cities.

                                                                                         The French-speaking world welcomes, again and again,
                                                                                         the variations and varieties that continuously occur in the                                 Souleymane Bachir Diagne
                                                                                         abundance of cultures that it gathers around the language                                        Columbia University
                                                                                         they share. It thus composes a living circle of which we

                                                                                                                                                                                                                         3
THE FRENCH L ANGUAGE Overview 2022 - 2022 Edition
FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

    FOREWORD                                                                                                                               PART 1
    This 5th edition of The French Language Worldwide drops us         are completed by a more comprehensive analysis of the levers
    into the heart of the different francophonies that have been       that favor plurilingualism in the educational systems. It is also
    born and flourished as the French language has travelled for       an opportunity to take stock of the various activities supported
    several centuries. With 321 million speakers, the French           by La Francophonie to help the more than 93 million

                                                                                                                                           PRESENCE
    language remains the 5th most spoken language in the world         students who have French as one of their schooling languages.
    (after English, Chinese, Hindi and Spanish).
                                                                       As a foreign language, French is the second most learned lan-
    Through a series of surveys and analyses based on academic         guage in the world by more than 50 million people. Promot-
    research, documentation and statistical analyses of demo-          ing the advantages of French training for professional use
    linguistic developments, interviews and testimonies, the book      makes it possible to go beyond the traditional image of an

                                                                                                                                           AND USES OF
    gives an account of the presence and use of French in the great    academic or elitist language towards a function favorable to
    diversity of sociolinguistic contexts in which it evolves.         employability, professional and student mobility. We shall
                                                                       also notice that the demand for French is important and that
    It is permeated by the fact that the majority of French speakers   the number of its learners is growing significantly in certain
    and children learning French for the first time reside on the      parts of the world (Africa, America, Asia), even if the regres-
    African continent.                                                 sion observed in Europe is weighing and leading to a global

                                                                                                                                           THE FRENCH
                                                                       stagnation.
    To understand this, we are invited to explore the "francophone
    galaxy" in the first part of the book, which reveals the number    The third part begins with an update of figures for the pres-
    and distribution of francophones in the world, but which           ence of the French language on the Internet, which confirms
    above all describes the reality of the uses and levels of          its 4th position (after English, Spanish and Arabic), while
    appropriation of this language that millions of speakers use,      proposing an original approach highlighting the notion of

                                                                                                                                           LANGUAGE
    modify and enrich every day in contact with other realities        "cyber globalization of languages" that shows the extent to
    and other languages. The presentation of the results of a year-    which English and French are detached from other languages.
    long field survey in ten countries in sub-Saharan region and
    the Indian Ocean allows us to address the issue of French          Next comes an unprecedented review of the new question of
    varieties in depth and without taboos.                             the "discoverability" of online cultural content, which
                                                                       confirms – if needed – the importance of the issues related to
    Among the many stakes related to the global nature of the          the digital transition and the questions raised by the

                                                                                                                                           IN THE WORLD
    French language and the diversity of its contexts of use, we       "platformization" of the cultural sectors, particularly the
    were particularly interested in examining the question of          audiovisual and music sectors. At the same time, by reporting
    multilingualism in international organizations. In particular,     on the 1st World Congress of French-speaking writers, held in
    we have considered the impact of the "watch, alert and action      2021 and on the General Assembly of French-language books
    mechanism" initiated in 2020 by the Secretary General of La        in the world, we are reminding ourselves of the extent to
    Francophonie, Mrs. Louise Mushikiwabo, who declared in             which the French-speaking book and reading space reveals
    an interview she gave us, that “Multilingualism, an essential      both the richness of cultural universes and the imbalances
    condition of multilateralism, is a common asset and a value to     that still need to be corrected.
    be defended”.

    The second part of the book is a coalmine of accurate                                                   Alexandre Wolff
    information on the situation of learning French in nearly 160                   Head of the French Language Observatory
    countries. Measuring global evolutions and presenting
    progress and setbacks, monographs devoted to each territory

4
THE FRENCH L ANGUAGE Overview 2022 - 2022 Edition
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

    The increase in the number of French speakers in Africa has                             have chosen to distinguish between La Francophonie of                                       Distribution of daily French speakers (2022)                          Is growth slowing down?
    been a constant for several years, and the distribution of                              everyday life (within the planet "Born and/or living in                                                                                                       By country, it is important to note first of all that, whatever
    French speakers has changed profoundly, as have the uses                                French") and La Francophonie that expresses itself in                                                                                                         comments we will present below, the increase in the
                                                                                                                                                                                                              14,6 %                Maghreb-PO
    of this language in the essentially multilingual contexts                               environments where French is exclusively a foreign language                                           31,2 %                                                  number of Francophones in Sub-Saharan region and in the
    that characterize the African continent. The modes of                                   (cf. graph "The Francophone galaxy in 2022"). The 36                                                                                    Sub-Saharan           Indian Ocean is always at least equal to that of the total
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    region
    acquisition of the French language passing through                                      countries4 concerned, in addition to the fact that they alone                                                                                                 population over the same period.
    essentially formal learning processes (but not exclusively),                            concentrate nearly 80% of the world's French speakers,                                          0,3 %                                   Indian Ocean
    the practice of French, more or less intense according to the                           constitute a decisive group for the future of the French                                                        47,4 %                  Americas-Caribbean    Nevertheless, if we take a global view, we can see that all
                                                                                                                                                                                             6,6 %
    countries concerned, is added to that of one or several other                           language. Certainly, the importance of the dynamics linked                                                                              Europe                the continents of the planet "born and/or living in French"
    languages in less formal contexts, for instance outside the                             to the learning of French as a foreign language is indisputable                                                                                               are marking time in the progression of the number of
    school environment or official institutions. In addition,                               and its inflections say a lot about the capacity of the French                                                                                                French speakers. The growth is indeed still less strong than
    these new speakers, for whom French was not their first                                 language to remain attractive and useful in a world where                                                                                                     the one recorded during our last estimate. The difference is
    language, in most cases, do appropriate it on the basis of                              plurilingualism is progressing. Nevertheless, as the statistics                                                                                               1 percentage point in Europe and Oceania, 2 points in the
    other linguistic skills. This multiplies the opportunities for                          and studies we have been collecting for more than 10 years                                By gaining 2.5 percentage points compared to 2018, the              Americas and in Sub-Saharan region-Indian Ocean, but 10
    interaction between French and national languages, the                                  show, the future of the French language is being played out                               African continent confirms both its central place in the daily      points in the Maghreb-Middle East.
    result of which takes various forms: creation of new words,                             on the African continent.                                                                 Francophonie and the dynamics that distinguish it from
    transposition into French of expressions or forms from                                                                                                                            other spaces.                                                       An indicator that is perhaps less sensitive to the vagaries of
    other languages, emergence of languages different from                                                                                                                            If we refine our observation a little, we can see that this         the calculations we make every four years - and undoubtedly
    standard French... As Richard Marcoux, the director of the                                                                                                                        African dynamic is mainly due to Sub-Saharan countries              more important when we want to take a step back and
                                                                                                The Francophonie "Galaxy" 2022
    ODSEF1, says, “we are born less and less Francophone, but                                                                                                                         representing more than 80% of the Francophone growth in             consider the question over a longer term - is to be found in
    we become more and more so”.                                                                                                                                                      this space. In these countries, with a few exceptions, growth       the changes that have occurred in the percentage of the
                                                                                                                                                                                      rates are indeed much higher than in the others. While the          population considered to be French-speaking 6 in each of
    ENUMERATION AND GEOGRAPHIC                                                                                             21 %
                                                                                                                                                    Another planet                    number of daily French speakers grew by 8% between 2018             the countries of this planet "Born and/or living in French".
    DISTRIBUTION OF FRANCOPHONES                                                                                                                    Born and/or live                  and 2022, it jumped by more than 15% in Sub-Saharan
                                                                                                                                                    in French                         region and Indian Ocean (SS-IO).                                    Thus, no country in the African space has experienced a
    With an estimated 321 million French speakers worldwide             2
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          significant change in the percentage of its French-speaking
    in 2022, the French language remains in the group of the 5                                                79 %                                                                    Regarding this positive development, two things should              population in relation to its total population. Since 2010,
    most spoken languages on a global scale (after English,                                                                                                                           nevertheless be noted: the increase is everywhere slightly          we find the same countries in the same sections, mostly
    Chinese, Hindi and Spanish3). In four years, 21 million more                                                                                                                      lower than that seen between 2014 and 2018 and it covers            below 50%, with the exception of 5 or 6 countries that had
    people speak French, an increase of 7% since 2018. The                                                                                                                            clear disparities between countries.                                already exceeded this threshold or were very close to it. This
    growth that has been observed for several years now is                                                                                                                                                                                                could be seen as what futurists call a weak sign,
    continuing at a good pace, even if a slight slowdown is to be                                                                                                                                                                                         foreshadowing a less optimistic scenario than the one used
    noted. Indeed, on the same perimeter, the number of French                              In fact, not only is the growth in the number of Francophones                                                                                                 in the excellent forecasts (see p. 10) made by our partner at
    speakers had grown by nearly 10% between 2014 and 2018.                                 on the planet "Born and/or living in French" slightly higher                               Daily speakers of French - Growth between 2018 and 2022            Laval University (the Demographic and Statistical
                                                                                            than that recorded for the world as a whole (+1 point5), but it                                                                                               Observatory of the Francophone Area, ODSEF).
                                                                                                                                                                                             Europe
    As our readers have become accustomed, our reflections take                             also represents 95% of the observed increase. Thus, more
    into account the various contexts in which the French                                   than 19 million of the "new Francophones" live in this area,                                    Oceania

    language flourishes. For reasons that are both methodological                           whose main component is African.                                                                America
    and pragmatic, and that avoid losing touch with reality, we
                                                                                                                                                                                        Sub-Saharan
                                                                                                                                                                                          region and

                                                                                            4                                                                                           Maghreb and
    1                                                                                         Algeria, Andorra, Belgium (including the Wallonia-Brussels federation), Benin,             Middle East
      Demographic and Statistical Observatory of the French-speaking world of Laval         Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Canada (including Canada-New Brunswick,
    University in Quebec.                                                                   Canada-Ontario and Canada-Quebec), Comoros, Congo, DRC, Côte d'Ivoire,
    2                                                                                                                                                                                                  0%        5%          10 %        15 %      20 %
      For details of the calculations, see the research note Richard MARCOUX, Laurent       Djibouti, France (and its overseas territories), Gabon, Guinea, Equatorial Guinea,
    RICHARD and Alexandre WOLFF. Estimation of Francophone populations in the               Haiti, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Monaco,
    world in 2022. Sources and methodological approaches. Québec, 2022, Demographic         Morocco, Niger, Central African Rep., Rwanda, Senegal, Seychelles, Switzerland,
    and Statistical Observatory of the French-speaking world of Laval University (ODSEF).   Chad, Togo, Tunisia, Vanuatu
                Voir QR Code.                                                               5
                                                                                              This is actually a little higher, but the downward revision (compared to 2018) of the
                3                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         6
                  Estimates of the number of speakers of other languages come from the      total population of some territories where French speakers weigh more than 80%                                                                                  Here again, it would be risky to present percentage changes by country, between 2010
                book Ethnologue, Languages of the World. 23rd edition, 2020 cited by        (Wallonia-Brussels Federation, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Polynesia and Wallis                                                                            and 2022 for instance, without multiplying the warnings concerning the changes in the
                Wikipedia.                                                                  & Futuna) has mathematically slowed it down.                                                                                                                  sources used and the long technical explanations on the effects of demographic
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          structures. We therefore choose the overall view.

6                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  7
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

                                                                                                                                                                                            FRANCOPHONE DENSITY
                                                                                                                                                                                               WORLDWIDE IN 2022
        Canada
        (total)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Estonie
                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Lettonie
                                                                                                                                                                                    Danemark                 Lituanie
                                                                                                                                                                       Royaume-
        Canada                                                                                                                                                         Uni
        Territoires                                                                                                                                    Irlande                Pays-Bas                 Pologne
        du Nord-           Canada                                                                                                                                                      Allemagne
        Ouest              Nunavut                                                                                                                                           Belgique
    Canada                                                                                                                                             Fédération          Luxembourg Rép. tchèque             Ukraine
    Yukon                                                                                                  Suède                                       Wallonie-                                 Slovaquie
                                                                                                 Norvège        Finlande                               Bruxelles                        Autriche                Moldavie
        Canada                                                                                                                                                         France Suisse             Hongrie
        Alberta        Canada                                                                                                  Russie                                                   Slovénie
                       Manitoba                          Canada—Terre-                                                                                                                                   Roumanie
             Canada                                      Neuve-et-Labrador                                                                                                          Italie Croatie Serbie
             Saskatchewan                  Canada                                                                                                                                           Bosnie-H.                                                   Percentage of
                             Canada        Québec                                                                                                                                                     Kosovo Bulgarie
                             Ontario                                                                                                                                         Monaco       Monténégro                                                    francophones
      Canada                                                                                                                                                         Andorre                           Macédoine du Nord
      Colombie-                                                                                                                                                                                 Albanie                                                 per country
      Britannique                                                                                                                                             Espagne
                                                          St-Pierre-et-Miquelon                                                                                                                          Grèce
                                                                                                                                                       Portugal                                                                                               0%
          États-Unis                                     Canada—Île-du-Prince-Édouard
                                                                                                                                   Géorgie
                                           Canada      Canada
                         États-Unis                    Nouvelle-Écosse                                                                  Arménie                                                Malte                                                          5%
                                           Nouveau-
                         Louisiane         Brunswick
                                                                                                      Tunisie        Chypre Liban
                                                                                         Maroc                                                                                                                                                                18 %
                                                                                                                               Israël
                                          Rép.                                                   Algérie                                  Qatar
                                          domini-                                                                     Égypte                                                                                                                                  26 %
               Mexique                    caine
                                                                                                                                          Émirats
                                                     Saint-Martin (FR)               Mauritanie                                           arabes               Laos
                                                     Saint-Barthélémy Cabo Verde                 Mali    Niger Tchad                      unis                                                                                                                65 %
                                             Porto    Guadeloupe                   Sénégal                                                               Thaïlande
                                  Haïti                                                                                                                                Vietnam
                                             Rico      Dominique           Gambie            Burkina Faso
                                                       Martinique                                                                   Djibouti                        Cambodge                                                                                  100 %
                                                                       Guinée Bissau
                         Costa                        Sainte-Lucie                                                Centrafrique
                         Rica                              Guyane                Guinée                  Cameroun
                                  Colombie                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Unavailable
                                                           française          Côte d’Ivoire         Bénin       Rép. dém.
                                                                                      Ghana Togo                du Congo                                                                                                                                      data
                                                                                                                            Rwanda
                                                                               Sao Tomé-et-Principe          Congo          Burundi   Seychelles
                                                                                            Guinée    Gabon
                                                                                            Équatoriale                         Comores                                                                                        Wallis-et-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                               Futuna
                                                                                                                           Mayotte        Madagascar                                                              Vanuatu
                                                                                                                                             Maurice
                                                                                                                       Mozambique                                                                                                           Polynésie
                                                     Paraguay                                                                                                                                                                               française
                                                                                                                                           Réunion
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Nouvelle-
                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Calédonie

                                                        Uruguay

8                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           9
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

       Number of Francophones in the world - ODSEF                                     students, on average, have not reached a "sufficient" level in                A very high level of French-speaking people throughout the region, particularly in Central Africa and
       forecasts
                                                                                       language. Similarly, at the end of the school year, in                        the Maghreb countries*.
       800 000

       700 000
                                                                                       reading, more than half of the students (52.1%) are below
       600 000                                                                         the "sufficient" level of competence. The PASEC2019                                                                 In all 15 countries, 77% of the population aged 15 and over is French-speaking,
       500 000                                                                         report notes that the results are, on average, better than                                                                         including 48% of whom speaks at a proficient level.
       400 000
                                                                                       those observed during the previous evaluation in 2014,
       300 000
                                                                                       even if some countries are stagnating or even regressing.                                                                                                                90 %                                                                             89 %
       200 000                                                                                                                                                                                                                       87 %                                 86 %                                            84 %
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 78 %                               78 %                                              82 %
       100 000
                                                                                                                                                                                                                           73 %
            0                                                                          Sociolinguistic realities reveal some common features, but                                      64 %                                                                                                       67 % 65 %
                    2015            2030            2050            2070                                                                                                                                62 %
                                                                                       they are also often different from one country to another.                     58 %                                      57 %                                                                                                        68 %
                           Low assumption         High assumption
                                                                                       This is particularly true for the use of French, which                                                                                                                    61 %      60 %                                                                   57 %
                                                                                       varies significantly, depending on the place occupied by                                                                                                                                      48 %                                              49 %
                                                                                                                                                                                        39 %                                43 %      39 % 38 %                                                                  38 %
                                                                                       a widely shared national language (see the graph "Level of                                                        34 % 32 %
                                                                                                                                                                        28 %                                                                                                                        30 %
     We know that small variations are not necessarily revealing,                      Francophonie" below), but also according to urban
     but we can nevertheless venture to make a general                                 dynamics.
     proposition.

                                                                                                                                                                        Burkina Faso

                                                                                                                                                                                        Côte d’Ivoire

                                                                                                                                                                                                         Mali

                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Senegal

                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Togo

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Cameroon

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Central
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 African Rep.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Congo

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Gabon

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     DRC

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Mauritania

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Rwanda

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Algeria

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Morocco

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Tunisia
     In the first place, and whatever the methodological                               A POLYCENTRIC VISION
     precautions taken, it does not seem possible to conclude                          OF FRENCH
     that these countries have deepened their Francophone
     roots. The French language maintains its presence, but it                         The latest Kantar Institute surveys, whose results were
     does not seem to be widening its lead. If, in the long term,                      exploited by us, covering cities in 15 countries10, took place
     the share of French speakers is undeniably growing, we                            during the second quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of                                                                                                                                            *Results only concern main or secondary cities
                                                                                                                                                                                   Fully French speaking                           proficient Francophonie                                   of the mentioned countries.
     must note that it seems to have reached a sort of threshold,                      2021. They reveal a significant but variable knowledge of
     albeit rather quickly (in about twenty years). Starting from                      French in all the countries in the sample. The majority of
     a very low base, because, it should be remembered, the                            the population declares itself to be French-speaking:
     colonial period contributed very little to the spread of the                      between 57% (in Senegalese cities) and up to 90% (in                        Thus, residents of Gabonese and Moroccan cities show a clear                                                    numerous to master the French language than their elders.
     French language among the population, the level of French-                        Congolese cities), but the real proficiency of French                       increase in the "proficient Francophonie" as well as in the                                                     With the exception of Mali, Rwanda and Togo, and to a
     speaking people has increased spectacularly, thanks to the                        concerns a smaller number of people. According to an                        total number of Francophones. The "proficient Francophonie"                                                     lesser extent Congo and the DRC, the proportion of young
     school. With the progress of schooling, it has continued to                       indicator established by Kantar defining a "proficient                      is also up sharply in the Ivorian cities, while the level of                                                    urban dwellers who master the French language is much
     rise slowly yet. This confirms our repeated warnings since                        Francophonie", the range extends from 28% (Burkinabe                        general Francophonie does not change. Malian and Tunisian                                                       higher than that of other age groups. The average gap is 6
     2010 concerning the conditions necessary for the future of                        cities) to 68% (Algerian cities).                                           cities also show an increase in the number of people declaring                                                  points, but in some cases (4 countries) it is 10 or 20 points!
     La Francophonie on the African continent.                                                                                                                     themselves to be French-speaking between 2010/2011 and                                                          This is of course a guarantee for the future of French, which
                                                                                       From the point of view of evolution, we can note a relative                 2020/2021 (respectively +17 and +18 points). On the other                                                       we have already noted in other studies that showed a greater
     As a conclusion, it appears that the challenges to be                             stability in the levels of Francophonie declared by the                     hand, while the overall proportion of francophones is stable                                                    use of French by the younger generations.
     addressed in terms of quality education in French are more                        populations. Since the oldest surveys in our possession date                in DRC cities, the proportion of speakers with the best
     urgent than ever. In this regard, the latest results of the                       back to 2008, a certain amount of hindsight allows us to                    command of the French language falls by 7 points between                                                        In addition to their relative youth, the majority of urban
     PASEC7 study on 14 countries8 member of the Conference                            make some observations. If a majority of the countries                      2009 and 2020/2021. Senegalese cities show an opposite                                                          Francophones are people who have had a minimum of
     of Ministers of Education of the States and Governments of                        concerned do not seem to have undergone any significant                     trend, with the number of confirmed Francophones                                                                education (at least primary, but especially secondary and
     La Francophonie (CONFEMEN) are not very reassuring.                               change, either in the total number of declared Francophones                 remaining stable, but the total number of Francophones                                                          higher education) and are in the more affluent categories of
     Indeed, at the beginning of the cycle9, more than 55% of                          or in the number of people considered as having a "proficient               decreasing (-5 points between 2009 and 2020/2021).                                                              the population. This reflects the importance of schooling,
                                                                                       French language", we can note some particular cases.                                                                                                                                        access to which is in part conditioned by income level,
             7
               PASEC2019. Quality of Education Systems in Francophone Sub-Saharan                                                                                   A profile dominated by young people                                                                            which in turn is linked to the individual's social status, and
             Africa. Performance and teaching-learning environment in primary educa-
             tion. Voir QR code.
                                                                                                                                                                   The majority of Francophones in sub-Saharan region and                                                          thus to his or her social interactions, cultural consumption,
             8
               Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire,                                                                                 the Maghreb are in the 15-24 age group. This reveals a                                                          and professional environment, all of which are more or less
             Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar, Niger,           10
                                                                                          Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Central African Republic, Togo,
             Senegal, and Togo.                                                        Rwanda, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, DRC, Gabon, Mali, Burkina Faso,   strong growth potential for La Francophonie. Indeed,                                                            conducive to the frequency and quality of use of French.
             9
               Assessments cover primary education only.                               Congo                                                                       results show that these young people are relatively more

10                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          11
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

       A recognized place for the French language                           All Francophones in these territories are                                considered to be the legitimate property of all its speakers,    priority to so-called "standard" French in their classroom
     These links between proficiency of the French language                multilingual and their first language is rarely                            whether they live in Paris, Dakar or Kinshasa. On the basis      practice, while occasionally resorting to different forms of
     and the opportunities it allows to seize are perfectly                French;                                                                    of a documentary review, questionnaires, interviews and          French (as well as to national languages) insofar as they
     expressed in the answers concerning the importance of this             The acquisition of the French language                                   direct classroom observations, researchers' work has made it     promote interaction and the acquisition of the knowledge to
     language in relation to various subjects. Thus, French is             requires efforts and its knowledge, without                                possible to identify a few trends.                               be transmitted. At the same time, they have serious doubts
     very often unanimously appreciated for its ability to:                speaking about a complete proficiency, is                                                                                                   about the validity, and especially the relevance, in terms of
                                                                           shared only by a part of the populations;                                  French language is perceived, by its non-native speakers,        results, of the use of varieties of French for student success.
     • Getting a job (between 67% and 97% of opinions)                      The official status of French and its quality                            essentially as a functional tool, in a relationship marked by    There is obviously a subject to be seized in order to support
     • Studying (between 68% and 98%)                                      as a schooling language do not in themselves                               pragmatism and utility. This is also the case for national       teachers, where the need exists, by identifying "good
     • Getting information (between 49% and 98%)                           guarantee a generalized dissemination, neither                             languages, whose uses and accompanying declarations only         practices" that would no longer be "taboo", provided that
     • Doing research on the Internet (between 53% and 97%)                of its proficiency, nor of its use;                                        marginally reveal a militant approach. It is also interesting    they guarantee quality teaching...
     • Accessing other cultures (between 55% and 96%).                      This unique place (without comparison with                               to note that, although present in the minds of speakers,
                                                                           other foreign languages or other transnational                             historical origin of the arrival of the French language on the   FRENCH LANGUAGE AND
       French, a second language                                           or even national languages) occupied by this                               African continent and in the Indian Ocean (colonization),        MULTILINGUALISM IN
     Measurement of the use of French by context is done                   language within societies qualifies it as an                               gives rise to very few expressions of hostility towards it.      INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
     through questions asked to classify the languages used at             African language, owned by its speakers; and                               Even if its compulsory, even "imposed" character can be
     home and at work by distinguishing the one whose use is                Certain markers of its lasting establishment                             noted, the reservations it could generate would be expressed       The danger of monolingualism
     the most frequent (main language) and the others, in order            and its potential progression (youth of its                                against national policies, which, sixty years after              Reports from both the international organizations
     of importance.                                                        speakers, proven presence in homes and                                     independence, seems quite logical. This does not mean,           themselves and external observers all agree in deploring the
                                                                           economic       activities)   deserve particular                            however, that citizens do not perceive the interest for the      drift in language practices towards a lack of respect for
     At work                                                               attention.                                                                 French-speaking countries of the North, and particularly         multilingualism. Significant imbalances are reported in
     French is present in all cases. It is even in first place ("main                                                                                 for France, to maintain and increase the presence of the         favor of English to the detriment of the other official or
     language") in the cities of Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon,                                                                                             French language at an international scale. However, they         working languages in all the work of these organizations,
     Congo, Gabon (where it is even the only language cited)             Sociolinguistic variations of French                                         insist above all on the leverage that mastery of this language   and in particular, in the recruitment process, in external
     and the DRC. In all other countries, with the exception of         Another question, at the crossroads of modes of acquisition,                  represents. Finally, the very frequent recourse to French,       communication and in calls for tenders or projects.
     Burkina Faso (where Mooré and Dioula are more widely               uses and knowledge of French and other languages, merits a                    which seems to be confirmed, does not diminish the
     used) and Rwanda (after Kinyarwanda and English),                  more detailed approach. The reader will also be able to                       multilingual practices that are indisputably a characteristic    United Nations’ Secretary General latest report on
     French is the second most commonly used language at                benefit from the results of a recent survey conducted in ten                  of the francophone sociolinguistic contexts of the South.        multilingualism highlights the recurrent difficulties of
     work in the cities.                                                African countries11, highlighting the observations made                                                                                        some of these structures to implement multilingualism.
                                                                        concerning the varied uses of French. The interview given to                  The challenge for the promoters of the French language,          English remains the language of choice at the UN both for
     At home                                                            us by Professor Bernard Cerquiglini, linguist and president                   including the institutional Francophonie, would therefore        recruitment - 98.7% of job offers require knowledge of
     The frequency of use of French in the home is still lower          of the scientific committee of the Dictionary of French                       be linked to their capacity to support and value                 English, while French has seen a 1.2 point decrease since
     than in the workplace - sometimes even disappearing, as in         Speakers (DDF12), shows the extent to which this issue has                    plurilingualism while promoting the usefulness of French.        2017 (to 10.4%) - and in internal communication: 98% of
     the cities of Senegal and Mauritania - but its position in the     become a major concern.                                                                                                                        the content of the intranet sites of Secretariat entities is
     language hierarchy remains relatively stable. French is even                                                                                     As for the varieties of French, they are not denied, but they    available in English (a 23 point increase since 2018),
     in first place in the urban areas of Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon,      The Observatory of the French language initiated this first                   do not seem to be claimed either. In the end, few speakers       compared to 16% in French.
     Congo and Gabon. In the cities of several countries, it is the     exploratory study 13on the issue of the sociolinguistic                       acknowledge their use for themselves, whereas they readily
     second most used language: Algeria, Mali, Central African          variation of French, the perception of its speakers and the                   attest to their presence and use in general. In addition to      The Joint Inspection Unit (JIU) of the UN system14 points
     Republic, DRC and Togo. Finally, in Morocco, Tunisia and           uses made of it, particularly in the educational sphere.                      difficulties, they encounter in defining the contours of this    out in its latest report the lack of significant progress and
     Rwanda, its place is marginal and it is, at best, only the         Researchers were also invited to explore ways of a possible                   category of language - as well as the researchers who publish    the need for governing bodies to take measures to ensure
     second or third "other language" that can be used as a             "concerted management" of the French language, which is                       on these issues - there is clearly a widespread reluctance to    the right balance between the effective implementation of
     medium of communication in families, but it is present.                                                                                          claim it. However, the statements concerning them,               multilingualism and the allocation of necessary resources.
                                                                                                                                                      including their consideration in learning processes, reveal      In the European Union, the situation is not much better for
                                                                                11
                                                                                   Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Lebanon,
        In summary, the results of the surveys show                             Morocco, Madagascar and DRC
                                                                                                                                                      the feeling of a need to understand the issue and to "make a
        the following:                                                          12
                                                                                   Voir QR code.                                                      place" for the varieties of French. This place is not non-       14
                                                                                                                                                                                                                          The report includes an in-depth review and quantitative and qualitative analysis of
                                                                                13
                                                                                  "Pratiques et représentations socio-langagières des français en                                                                      data from collected documentation, responses to questionnaires and interviews (more
                                                                                Francophonie" (PRESLAF). The complete report and the results of the   existent in schools, even if the majority of teachers give       than 100 interviews with representatives of UN agencies based in Geneva, New York,
                                                                                study can be consulted at the following address. Voir QR code.                                                                         Paris, Rome and Vienna and in two field locations: Brussels and Nicosia).

12                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              13
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

     multilingualism: only between 3.7% (in the European                                   international organizations, the IOF is involved in advocacy     Provide tools and resources                                                     development of a French-language training course for
     Commission) and 12% (in the European Parliament) of the                               at various levels, as well as through numerous activities,       In 2020, IOF continued to support TV5MONDE in the                               gender equality advisors in PKOs.
     documents produced are in French as a source language, a                              including the coordination of the Francophone                    production of 42 news programs ("7 jours sur la planète"),                      Another notable success was the launch in 2021 of a
     continuous decline over the last twenty years, when this                              Ambassadors' Groups (GAF) and networks of international          1,080 self-study exercises and 262 educational sheets. For                      platform for the Réseau d'expertise et de formation
     proportion was 34% (in 1999).                                                         civil servants. For her part, the Secretary General constantly   independent learning, certain collections have met with                         francophone pour les opérations de paix (REFFOP), now
     It would be all the more important to put an end to these                             advocates at the highest level with heads of state and           great success, such as "Le français des relations                               integrated into the Boutros-Ghali Peacekeeping
     drifts since, according to surveys, only 25% of European                              government, heads of international organizations and even        internationales", intended for people preparing for the                         Observatory website. This network aims to enhance the
     citizens are able to understand a newspaper article or                                the United Nations Security Council.                             French diploma in international relations (DFP-RI) of the                       Francophone expertise and potential of peacekeeping
     audiovisual information in English15 and since the United                                                                                              Paris-Île-de-France Chamber of Commerce and Industry,                           training schools and centers in Africa, North America,
     Kingdom's exit from the EU, less than 1% of the population                            Thanks to the support of the IOF's External Representations,     or "Objectif diplomatie", for an introduction to the French                     Europe and Southeast Asia. French peacekeeping training
     of the member countries has English as its mother tongue...                           several meetings and initiatives have made it possible to        of international relations in formal or informal contexts. In                   resources18 are available online.
                                                                                           strengthen the role of the GAFs and their actions in favor       March 2020, TV5MONDE launched the "Learn French
     Observations made for the UN and the European Union                                   of multilingualism. The IOF has also provided them with a        with TV5MONDE" application, which contains the 3,000                            French, official language of the Olympic
     are more or less the same for other regional or international                         digital application to integrate them into a global network      exercises on apprendre.tv5monde.com.                                            and Paralympic Games
     organizations, as shown in the latest follow-up document                              by the beginning of 2022.                                        Since 2017, IOF has also partnered with Hachette FLE to                         For each edition, the IOF provides the Organizing Committee
     to the IOF's vade mecum of La Francophonie, which also                                                                                                 publish Objectif diplomatie level 1 new edition, a book                         of the Olympic Games with French-speaking personnel
     deals with the African Union, the European Parliament                                      The support of the IOF                                      dedicated to learning French for diplomats. In December                         specialized in translation assigned to the linguistic services
     and the Council of Europe.                                                            Cooperate with international and regional                        2019, the offer was enriched with a digital course of 150 self-                 and to the media, who contribute to the translation and the
                                                                                           organizations (IROs)                                             correcting exercises and, at the end of 2021, Objectif                          elaboration of the contents in French. Since 2004, a person
       Towards an operational system with three                                            IOF's close cooperation with IROs to support                     diplomatie.lab level 1, an open digital tool made available to                  has been designated by the Secretary General of the
     components: monitoring, alert and action                                              multilingualism has resulted in concrete initiatives such as:    teachers, was put online.                                                       Francophonie to ensure compliance with Article 23 of the
     Determined to "reverse the decline of the French language",                           the launch in May 2021 of a technical training cycle in                                                                                          Olympic Charter19. The mission of Grand Témoin de la
     the Secretary General of La Francophonie, Mrs. Louise                                 French for African Union officials; the development in           A specific "peace and security" component                                       Francophonie for the 2020 edition has been entrusted to
     Mushikiwabo, has initiated a large reflection with the                                2021 of a module in professional communication and legal         To strengthen the presence of francophones in UN PKOs                           Thierry Marx, world-renowned gourmet chef.
     representatives of States and governments within a working                            French for the International Criminal Court; the                 (estimated at 27% in January 2021, while the majority of
     group on “French language” she has set up and regularly                               publication of two calls for expressions of interest in 2021     missions are deployed in the francophone space), the IOF is                      Towards more multilingualism ?
     chairs.                                                                               aimed at strengthening the French language skills of civil       carrying out actions, several of which have produced                            Progress at the UN
                                                                                           servants and linguistic mediation (9 projects selected; 8        tangible results. Among these initiatives is the IOF-UN-                        In 2020, the UN Office of Human Resources completed
     A "monitoring, alert and action mechanism in favor of the                             IRO beneficiaries).                                              France pilot project to strengthen the French language                          the UN Framework for Languages, which aims to
     French language and multilingualism in international                                                                                                   training system for MINUSMA17 military personnel (May                           strengthen the coherence of learning and assessment of
     organizations", supported by the French-speaking States                               Training and capacity building                                   2021-ongoing).                                                                  language skills in the six official languages20. Its
     and governments, has been activated in order to make                                  In order to strengthen the capacities of States or national                                                                                      implementation has allowed for the redefinition of language
     operational the exchange of information, the coordination                             training institutions in the definition and implementation       As part of a partnership developed by IOF with the UN                           course curricula for the different levels and contexts of use.
     of the initiatives deployed and the mobilization of French-                           of training plans in French for (future) civil servants and      Police Division, two regional seminars have been jointly                        Ultimately, it is expected that the Framework will improve
     speaking networks. A network of national focal points has                             diplomats, the IOF is deploying programs that aim to             organized since 2018 in Paris and Bamako, with the                              the determination of language requirements for
     been established to participate in monitoring and alerting                            increase the number of managers and experts in the               support of the Francopol police training network to                             recruitment.
     activities concerning proven violations of the language                               targeted administrations who have a sufficient level of          improve the quality of applications submitted by                                The UN Secretariat has announced other initiatives to
     regime of international organizations.                                                French to express themselves in French in their professional     Francophones. An increase in the number of French-                              support multilingualism in 2022, such as the development
                                                                                           context. Within this framework, nineteen national                speaking police officers has been noted: from 28% in 2012                       of a strategic and coherent policy framework for
     Political Advocacy and Mobilization                                                   governments or institutions have signed Cooperation              to 80% of the workforce in 2021.                                                mainstreaming multilingualism in the work of the United
     of States and Governments                                                             Agreements (National Francophone Initiatives and                 Other examples of Francophone training include: the first
     Since its Headquarters in Paris and through its external                              Francophone Establishment Initiatives - IFN and IFE)             Francophone training course for mission leadership, which
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    18
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Voir QR code.
     representations16, particularly those working with                                    with the IOF for the period 2019-2022. More than 1,200           until now has been conducted only in English; the first                                 19
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Article 23 of the Olympic Charter: 1. The official languages of the IOC
                                                                                           agents - at least 70% of whom are women - are trained each       Francophone course for female military officers; and the                                are French and English. 2. At all Sessions, simultaneous interpretation shall
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    be provided in French, English, German, Spanish, Russian and Arabic.
     15
                                                                                           year.                                                                                                                                                    3. In the event of any discrepancy between the French and English texts of
        Special Eurobarometer 386, 2012                                                                                                                                                                                                             the Olympic Charter and any other IOC document, the French text shall
     16
        Addis Ababa, Brussels, Geneva, and New York, as well as Antananarivo, Bucharest,                                                                                                                                                            prevail unless expressly provided otherwise in writing.
                                                                                                                                                            17                                                                                      20
     Dakar,
     1
             Hanoi, Libreville, Lomé, Port-au-Prince, Quebec, Tunis, and soon Beirut.      2
                                                                                                                                                                 United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali               Voir QR code.
       PASEC 2014 - Performances des systèmes éducatifs en Afrique subsaharienne               TRANSLANGA et DUFRAM, commanditées par l’AUF et l’OIF
     francophone : Compétences et facteurs de réussite au primaire

14                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  15
PRESENCE AND USES OF FRENCH LANGUAGE WORLDWIDE

     Nations. IOF is supporting the development of this
     framework through the provision of a contribution aimed
     at bringing in high-level expertise.
                                                                                               PART 2
     An ongoing debate in the European Union
     Since the Brexit, the dominance of English in the
     institutions is felt to be all the more unjustified. Many
     voices have been raised 21 to denounce the majority use of a

                                                                                               LANGUAGE
     language that is now official, alongside the national
     languages, in only two member countries: Ireland and
     Malta. The debate on multilingualism in the EU has also
     been rekindled by the health crisis, which led the European
     institutions to make unprecedented use of video-
     conferencing tools to organize, for the first few weeks,

                                                                                               POLICIES AND
     virtual meetings in English only at all levels, including
     Council meetings. As of May 2020, the European
     Commission has set up the Interaction platform, which
     allows the use of up to 32 languages. Finally, the French
     presidency of the European Union in the first half of 2022
     should be an opportunity to debate new proposals for a

                                                                                               TEACHING
     rebalancing in the use of official languages.

                                                                                               (IN) FRENCH
                                                                                               WORLDWIDE
     21
        One example is the initiative of a group of French-speaking European civil servants,
     dubbed "Carré bleu", who sent an open letter to the President of the Commission in
     September 2019 demanding the right to work in French.

16                                                                                                            17
LANGUAGE POLICIES AND TEACHING (IN) FRENCH WORLDWIDE

                                                                                                                                                FRENCH AS A SCHOOLING
                                                                                                                                                             LANGUAGE

                                                                                                                                                                                     Unique or main language
                                                                                                                                                                                     since entering school

      Canada                                                                                                                                                                         With one or several other
                                                                                                                                                                                     languages, fully or partially
                                                                                                                                                                                     according to different grades

                  Canada       Canada
                               Québec                                                   Belgique                                                                                     Students enrolled in French
                  Ontario                                                                          Féd. Wallonie-Bruxelles
                                                                                                                                                                                     schools by geographic area (2021)
                                                        EUROPE                                      Luxembourg

       AMÉRIQUES                                      16,1 M     17,3 %               France        Suisse romande
      ET CARAÏBES                                                                                   Monaco                                                                   2,4 M   Number of students (in million)
                                                                                        Andorre
       2,4 M   2,5 %           Canada
                               Nouveau-
                               Brunswick                                                       Tunisie                     Liban                                             2,5 %   Share of each geographical area
                                                                               Maroc
                                           AFRIQUE DU NORD
                                           ET MOYEN-ORIENT                                Algérie                 Égypte                                                     Total: 93.2 million students in 36 countries
                                              3,3 M      3,6 %             Mauritanie
                                                                                        Mali       Niger Tchad
                                                                          Sénégal
                       Haïti                                                        Burkina Faso
                                                                                                                      Djibouti                  ASIE ET OCÉANIE
                                                                                                       Centrafrique
                                                                    Guinée                     Cameroun
                                                                  Côte d’Ivoire           Bénin       Rép. dém.                                   0,07 M   0,08 %
                                                                                     Togo             du Congo
                                                                                                   Congo         Burundi
                                                                                           Gabon
                                                                                                                     Comores
                                                                                                                                   Madagascar                   Vanuatu

                                                                                                                                                           Nouvelle-Calédonie (Fr)

                                                                                           AFRIQUE SUBSAHARIENNE
                                                                                               ET OCÉAN INDIEN
                                                                                                         71,3 M   76,5 %

18                                                                                                                                                                                                                          19
LANGUAGE POLICIES AND TEACHING (IN) FRENCH WORLDWIDE

                                                                                                                                                Distribution of French Learners - 2022
     FRENCH AS A LANGUAGE                                                 consensus to protect all languages and actions are taken to                                                                              Learning French as a marker of multilingual
     OF SCHOOLING                                                         meet the challenges of "eco-linguistic protection". However,                                              Americas & Caribbean          educational policies
                                                                                                                                                          2,5%
     French is the language of schooling in the educational systems       the reality on the ground shows that only minimal language                                                Sub-Saharan region -          Educational and linguistic policies play a major role in
     of 36 states and governments around the world (24 of which           policies are applied, and that they most often only deal with             17,3 %                          Indian Ocean
                                                                                                                                                                                                                  learning foreign languages, not only by the obligations set by
                                                                                                                                                                                    North Africa - Middle East
     are in the Africa-Indian Ocean and Middle East zones), either        the status of languages (whose implications often remain                3,6 %                                                           school curricula, but also by the means that are devoted to
     alone or alongside other languages; 80% of students enrolled         implicit, and whose effects are often little or poorly measured).                                         Europe                        them. Revaluation of the teaching profession, renewal and
     in French schools are concentrated on the African continent,         Moreover, when texts are produced and programs are                                   76,5 %                                             training of young teachers, decentralization outside of large
                                                                                                                                                                                    Asia-Oceania as a whole
     where French is generally used as a language of instruction,         financed by States and partners in the field, they are almost                                             does not appear because       cities and democratization of multilingual training offers are
                                                                                                                                                                                    it only represents 0.08%
     but also as a means of communication between populations             exclusively concerned with the introduction of certain                                                    of the total.                 among the challenges that will allow educational systems to
     (whose first language is one or more other languages,                languages into the educational system and with literacy,                                                                                respond to the demands of populations in favor of plurilingual
     sometimes transnational, in territories that are characterized       mainly in the primary cycle. Moreover, language policy                                                                                  societies.
     by great linguistic and cultural diversity).                         issues are generally dealt with by the States at the national       Finally, it is Lebanon that dominates the French school
                                                                          level, without taking into account territorial specificities, and   landscape in the North Africa-Middle East zone, even if the         Similarly, national policy choices, in line with plurilingual
       Language policy choices and State-led actionsLes                   dispersed among bodies under the responsibility of ministries       place of this language as a medium of schooling is far from         perspectives in favor of national and transnational languages
     States and governments of the French-speaking countries of           that differ from a country to another.                              negligible - although not precisely quantified - in the Maghreb     at the country level, have an influence on the degree of
     the South - especially in Sub-Saharan region and the Indian                                                                              countries.                                                          openness of educational systems, towards international
     Ocean - need public policies that take into account their            It is in this context that La Francophonie supports member          As for the Asian part, the low volume of learners in New            mobility for example.
     sociolinguistic realities, and must therefore make language          states and governments through programs and initiatives             Caledonia and Vanuatu makes it difficult to see in relation to
     planning choices responding to various issues: linguistic            dedicated to language and educational policies, capacity            the total mass.                                                     It is in this context that some countries make reform choices
     democracy and respect for the rights of minority languages;          building of teachers, evaluations and learning for the benefit                                                                          and establish multilateral or bilateral Cooperation Agreements
     bi-multilingual quality education and training; employability        of bi-multilingual education (in particular through its             FRENCH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE                                        in favor of the renewal and mobility of teachers, the
     and development; social cohesion and intergenerational               program School and National Languages in Africa - ELAN).                                                                                strengthening of their linguistic and didactic skills, the
     transmission; access for all to information and rights in their                                                                          The evolution of the number of students learning FLE differs        implementation of language assistant programs, student
     mother tongue, etc.                                                   Current situation by region and country                            according to the region or country, and is largely due to the       mobility, etc.
     Mr. Jean-Marie Klinkenberg, professor emeritus at the                Approximately 93 million pupils and students are being              will of national authorities to make the teaching of a second
     University of Liège (Belgium), indicates that "language              taught in French around the world: figures that are slightly        foreign language (or even more) mandatory in their                   Bilateral and multilateral cooperation in favor
     policies are a factor of personal development as much as of          increasing and that confirm, first of all, that French has not      educational systems. Outside of English-speaking countries,         of learning the French language
     collective development" when they aim to "harmonize the              lost its status as a language of schooling anywhere, and that       it is often observed that public policies only leave room for       Agreements signed with France are often decisive in
     language market and the job market, to increase competence           the educational systems of countries where the number of            English as the only linguistic and cultural otherness in the        strengthening the teaching of French. As part of its bilateral
     in the use of expression tools (...); to be linked to the training   children attending school is increasing (in the South) are          construction of young citizens.                                     policy, France conducts and supports cooperation actions with
     policy, to the policy of protection and promotion of the             taking in a growing number of them (even if not all of them         The attractiveness of the French language to young people,          local authorities through national or regional funding such as
     worker (by acting on the language of contracts, work,                are enrolled).                                                      their parents and schools is also due to the perspectives it can    the FSPI (Solidarity Fund for innovative projects, civil societies,
     equipment), to the policy of consumer protection                                                                                         offer in terms of employability, opportunities to study abroad,     La Francophonie and human development), an instrument that
     (instructions manual, safety), to the policy of contacts             Naturally, countries where French is the only official language     to access jobs related to tourism, international organizations      makes it possible to finance initiatives, particularly in the fields
     between the citizen and the public authorities (simplification       that carry the greatest weight in the world as a whole and,         or to evolve within a company or an administration.                 of culture, French, higher education and research.
     of the administrative and legal language, etc. ), equal              among them, the overwhelming majority of French learners
     opportunities policy (feminization of job names), research           reside on the African continent, including countries where it is    Political action is a determining factor in the construction of     French cooperation includes the LabelFrancÉducation and
     and development policy, particularly in the digital field, and       not an official language (for instance Maghreb region).             educational systems and multilingual societies that can             the program for language assistants in France and abroad.
     policy on citizen access to contemporary information and                                                                                 promote the employability of young people, training and             France also mobilizes the expertise of its local teaching teams
     communication technologies.                                          Europe comes in second place, thanks to France (91% of              professional development throughout life. It is also the one        and its operators - notably France Education International
                                                                          European students are taught in French), but also to the            who must deal with the difficulties faced by many educational       (FEI) - to strengthen the French language in public or private
     Many resolutions and texts in favor of linguistic diversity          Wallonia-Brussels Federation, French-speaking Switzerland,          systems, sometimes under pressure because of overcrowding,          schools in the national educational systems and in French
     already include elements of language policy at the national          Luxembourg and Monaco.                                              and teachers of and in French who are increasingly in short         schools approved in the countries.
     level in several African countries (e.g., South Africa) or recall    If North America owes its third place to Quebec and Canada          supply: teachers retiring (which is sometimes enough to
     the need to integrate a bi- or multilingual approach in              in general, we must not forget the role played by Haiti, even       eliminate the offer of French in the school), crisis of vocations   In 2020, the French Language Fund also supported 29
     educational systems in order to improve early learning (e.g.,        if the latest available statistics concerning this country are      to teach languages (including French), which are moreover           projects led by the Alliances françaises and Instituts français,
     Mali, Burundi). There is indeed a high-level international           outdated (2015-2016).                                               often optional as a second foreign language.                        including the Franco-Brazilian French Meetings on Tourism, a

20                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       21
LANGUAGE POLICIES AND TEACHING (IN) FRENCH WORLDWIDE

     regional forum Génération LabelFrancÉducation in Bulgaria,          candidates, especially for young people, with 214,121 candidates     Other programs and tools such as the Professional French           TV5MONDE's offer has also been enriched with educational
     and the "Les petits penseurs" project in the United States,         (including 108,376 in the context of the DELF scolaire and           Diplomas (DFP) designed and developed by the French                material covering different professional sectors (business,
     aimed at school audiences.                                          therefore official language assessments within national              Business Center of the Paris Chamber of Commerce and               tourism, hotel and restaurant, fashion and design, international
                                                                         educational systems) in 2021, out of a total of 381,597              Industry, hereinafter referred to as "FDA-CCIP" - specializing     relations and diplomacy), and educational sheets for vocational
     In addition to its 98 locations in 95 countries, the French         candidates for the DELF-DALF. The number of candidates has           in the training of trainers, developing training programs and      French courses (hotel business, sales, tourism) produced by
     Institute runs the IFprofs platform, which brought together         been steadily increasing, and will reach its peak in 2019 with       certifications in FOS/Professional French - make it possible to    TV5 Québec Canada with the financial support of the Office
     42,000 professionals from 105 countries (20,000 shared              318,474 young candidates (including 163,121 enrolled in a            enhance the proficiency of French, more particularly in the        québécois de la langue française. A project is underway to
     resources) in 2021. The resources of its Culturethèque platform     DELF scolaire) out of a total of 519,611 DELF-DALF                   business, international relations, and tourism/hotel business/     develop educational resources on the building trades and
     (digital library) benefited more than 500,000 users in 2021 (i.e.   candidates, confirming the interest of students in certifying        restaurant sectors through training in French that has been        heritage restoration, in partnership with the future Cité
     a doubling compared to 2019).                                       their competencies in French with an official diploma, mainly        deployed internationally.                                          internationale de la langue française in Villers-Cotterêts
                                                                         in secondary schools.                                                                                                                   (France).
     It should be noted that the attendance of FLE courses within        The DELF scolaire is particularly attractive in Italy (22% of all    According to FDA-CCIP, request for training in vocational
     the network of 832 Alliances françaises present in 131              registrants in 2019) and especially in Germany (28% of               French has not diminished despite the health crisis that has       The vitality of FOS or vocational French training abroad, or at
     countries, with 490,000 FLE learners worldwide in 2019              registrants).                                                        affected language centers as the establishment of a distance       least its potential, is therefore beyond doubt, given the dynamics
     (including 111,000 learners in FLE courses in companies or                                                                               learning offer has also made it possible to deploy training        of the training and certification systems observed by FDA-
     institutions) has evolved by +3.4% since 2018. Madagascar,           Development and deployment of tools for learning                    adapted to new needs.                                              CCIP, the opportunity for diversification of the public that this
     India, the United States, Mexico and France being the top five      FOS/Vocational French                                                Among the signs of a growing interest in professional French       represents for language and training centers, and above all the
     countries where French is learned in the Alliances françaises,      In the field of bilateral cooperation for French, the place          diplomas (DFP), we can note the evolution of requests for          emergence of new publics "driven by a real need to work in
     followed by China, Brazil, Colombia, Peru and Zimbabwe.             occupied by training courses leading to a diploma with a             approval of language centers to organize sessions of the           French" - to quote Mrs. Florence Mourlhon-Dallies, who also
     While French courses for the general public remained stable in      professional aim deserves special consideration. This category of    professional French diploma (increasing from 30 in 2018 to 70      specifies: "We have (...) fewer high-level learners, but much
     2019, courses for businesses and institutions increased             learners of French "for specific purposes" (FOS) is in fact          in 2020) and the interest in organizing trainers' training in      more request for intermediate qualifications and manual
     significantly over the year (+16%).                                 indicative of a dynamic that underlines the very concrete            evaluation and preparation for certification in vocational         trades. "
     The Latin American region is in first place with 130,000            usefulness of knowledge of French, as many of these courses are      French.
     learners enrolled in a network of 172 Alliances, and Europe, the    provided in higher education through so-called                       Out of more than 23,000 candidates who took one of the DFPs          Status and trends by region and country
     leading continent for the establishment of Alliances françaises     "professionalizing" masters programs.                                between 2016 and the first half of 2021, 72% were taking the       As in 2018, the number of French learners worldwide slightly
     in the world with its 236 Alliances.                                                                                                     Business DFP; 13% were taking the Secretarial DFP; 6% were         exceeds 51 million individuals for students in public and private
                                                                         In all countries of the world, they concern the following fields:    taking the Tourism, Hotel business, and Restaurant DFP; and        schools, colleges, high schools, and higher education institutions, as
     For its part, the IOF has three regional centers for the            applied foreign languages, culture and language of European          5.5% were taking the International Relations DFP. Eighty           well as enrollment in foreign language institutes or centers outside
     teaching of French (CREF): centers of excellence that offer         organizations, conference interpretation, translation and            percent of the candidates came from Switzerland, France, Italy,    the school system. The predominance of the North Africa-Middle
     high-level training engineering facilities providing training and   specialized terminologies, intercultural communication               the United States, Egypt, Algeria, Spain, Lebanon, Austria,        East region continues with 44% of FLE learners in educational
     seminars for all professional categories of French language         strategies (literary and linguistic), modern languages and           Russia and Belgium.                                                systems, followed by Sub-Saharan region-Indian Ocean (25%),
     teaching in educational systems. This initiative, which was first   international communication, teaching French, language                                                                                  Europe (19%), Americas-Caribbean (9%), and Asia-Oceania (3%).
     tested in 1993 in Asia-Pacific (CREFAP), was extended in 2005       technologies and automatic translation, etc.                         The main trends observed reveal that the European continent
     to Central and Eastern Europe (CREFECO) and, starting in            The French language is also often found as one of the necessary      remains far ahead in the requests for training and certification   Overall, the number of FLE learners has very slightly decreased
     2021, to Africa and the Middle East (CREFA).                        components of training related to public administration,             in vocational French. Interest is also observed in Kenya, India    by 0.1% since 2018, mainly reflecting a sharp decline in French
     The program targets more than 50,000 teachers and more than         international relations, diplomacy, or defense and security          and Mexico. The request remains stable in North America, and       learning observed in Europe (-10%). The other regions of the
     4 million learners of French.                                       issues (mainly in Africa).                                           very low on the Asian continent where the link between             world, on the other hand, are experiencing an average increase in
                                                                                                                                              proficiency of French and professional competence seems to be      the number of French learners.
      Official certification of French language skills                   In Europe, North Africa and, to a lesser extent, Asia, disciplines   in need of repair.
     Among FEI's assessment tools for teachers, the APPRENDRE            concerned go well beyond the sectors directly related to                                                                                The weight of the Maghreb alone is considerable, since Algeria,
     Ev@lang test - supported by FEI and AUF - was launched in           languages: architecture, agriculture and agribusiness,               Among the measures for teaching FOS that have also been            Morocco and Tunisia alone account for more than 17 million FLE
     2021 in its training version, to assess the level of French         journalism, medicine and health, management, industrial              developed, we can note the launch of the Clés du français pro      learners. A significant proportion of the students counted are in
     language skills of teachers in the educational systems of 26        systems engineering, tourism, marketing and sales, finance and       in March 2021 by the FDA-CCIP and the French Institute, to         fact being taught in a way that is largely similar to that described
     French-speaking countries.                                          control, international law (public and private), economics and       support the network of French language centers by                  in other educational systems as "bilingual", or even "in French"
                                                                         management, mathematics and computer science, chemical               accompanying the development of a course offer in Vocational       for certain subjects and at certain levels of study, but the qualifier
     Even within the context of the pandemic, the official French        and biochemical engineering, international logistics and             French.                                                            "foreign language" applied to French in these countries is thus
     language certifications have gathered a large number of             transport, political science, etc.                                                                                                      respected.

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